[mgj-discuss] Protest Blackwater USA: No private Mercenaries!

[mgj at riseup.net]

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I would like to have the largest, most professional private army in the world."
- Gary Jackson, president of Blackwater USA

"We have established a global presence and provide training and tactical
solutions for the 21st century. Our clients include federal law enforcement
agencies, the Department of Defense, Department of State, and Department of
Transportation, local and state entities from around the country, multinational
corporations and friendly nations from all over the globe."
    - Blackwater corporate website

Blackwater USA is coming to town!
Blackwater USA is coming to recruit!

PROTEST BLACKWATER USA!

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 19TH 9:45am TO 11:00am
@ the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, 22nd & M Streets, NW Washington, DC. (on 22nd between
M and L)


The Mobilization for Global Justice (MGJ) is calling for a protest against
Blackwater USA, a private military contractor (PMC) that supplies private
troops (mercenaries) as well as other logistical support services.

Their main client is the U.S government, but this Saturday, February 19th
Blackwater is having a conference to recruit more clients. They have invited
representatives of various Washington-based embassies, especially those serving
as military attachés.

Blackwater is attempting to expand and find more clients for their services.  We
are calling for a protest against these blatant war profiteers.  Let the foreign
diplomats know that many Americans are concerned about human rights and willing
to stand up to mercenaries like Blackwater.

Currently, Blackwater's main activities are in Iraq, and as for many war
profiteers, the war in Iraq has been a boon for them. According to a report
published last April, there were over 15,000 military contractors in Iraq and
that number is increasing rapidly. They operate with little oversight and in
high secrecy. In an interview with Mother Jones magazine last May, Blackwater's
president Gary Johnson told a reporter that some of the contracts they were
working on were so secret he could not tell one federal agency about the
contract with another federal agency.
These so called "Private Military Corporations" (PMCs) have also raised concern
for Members of Congress because they are not subject to the Military Code of
Conduct or the Uniform Code of Military Justice which lends itself to abuse,
torture, and violation of human rights, nor are they accountable for their
actions, providing government officials with what one former professor at the
Defense
Department's Marshall European Center for Security Studies, described as
"plausible deniability."


This event has been endorsed by:
the DC Anti-War Network and the International Socialist Organization